Melvyn Weiss, a securities attorney who has spent more than one year in prison after he pled guilty to charges that his firm paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs, could be sent back to prison after an arrest for drunken driving in Florida, according to The National Law Journal.
Weiss is the founder of what is known now as Milberg LLP
U.S. District Judge John Walter in Los Angeles has ordered that Weiss return to court on May 3.
“He could be incarcerated for violating the terms of his release,” said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. “Under the supervision of a probation officer, and pursuant to that release, you agree you will not violate the law while on release. The allegations made by the [U.S.] Probation Department are in fact he did violate the law by driving while intoxicated in Florida.”
In his plea agreement from 2008, Weiss agreed not to commit crimes while on probation. “Defendant understands that if defendant violates one or more of the conditions of any supervised release imposed, defendant may be returned to prison for all or part of the term of supervised release,” the document says.
The arrest report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said that Weiss was pulled over on December 19 after his vehicle was seen swerving and driving in two lanes at once while on Interstate 95. Interstate 95. The vehicle was trailed for one mile prior to stopping. Speeds reached 90 MPH at times.
“When I made contact with the driver I could detect a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and he appeared to be impaired,” one of the officers said in an affidavit.
“The driver’s speech was slurred and his eyes were red and glossy,” the arrest report says.
Weiss could not balance while walking a painted street line and could not properly recite the alphabet.
“The defendant stated he had a law degree when I asked his level of education,” the arrest report says. “The defendant correctly recited the alphabet from ‘A’ to ‘F.’ He then said ‘H,I,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,S,X,U,V,W,S,I,C.’ He then said ‘my mind is not as good as it was.’ The defendant appeared confused during the alphabet and tried several times to correct himself.”
While in the back of the patrol car, Weiss said, “Why are you doing this to me, what did I do that was so wrong?” and “You know I am on probation.” Weiss fell asleep in the patrol car. His blood alcohol level was between 0.13 and 0.14.